Kiraku - 8 Station Parade, Ealing Common, W5 3LD - 0208 992 2848

I absolutely love Japanese food, there is just something so intrinsically sexy about it. Last summer my long standing and suffering girlfriend and I (from here on in known as The Admiral because she looks like the admiral off the car insurance adverts) went to Japan for a month and ate so much that we could have been called up to the British sumo team. Walk around any major Japanese city and you can't help but fall in love with the food, it seduces you. The red lanterns hanging outside the Izakaya's are completely more attractive to me than any red light district in the world. As soon as you open the door you are greeted with a blast of grilled Yakitori, and if we are being honest there is nothing more sexy than the smell of grilled meat. You sit huddled up next to random strangers in tiny booths skin often touching together, you're so excited that the hostess has to bring you a cold towel just so you can focus on the menu. An obligatory Kirin Ichiban comes over in a frosted glass and you gulp thirstily. Soy sauce and wasabi are organised into delicate bowls and you snap your wooden chopsticks apart in anticipation. At this point I am just about to reach a gastronomic climax and I haven't even got my food yet. I could tell you about the melt in the mouth Kobe beef at Serenya in Tokyo, the slabs of yellow tail and salmon sashimi dragged straight out of the Tsukuji fish market, the singular massive scallop staring up to me longingly from a plate of seafood yaki soba in an Izakaya in Kyoto or the course after course of exquisite and often strange dishes that form the part of a kaiseki meal, but I won't for fear of me actually needing urgent medical attention...

Unfortunately all that wonderful food is only available some 13,000 miles away...this however is London. Japanese food in London upsets me. You can buy sushi in supermarkets that would make any self respecting Japanese person fall on their chopsticks in a bout of hari kari (California Roll you are a bastard). Yo Sushi and all its conveyor belt brethren holds as much appeal to me as sitting on a luggage carousel at Heathrow airport eating the contents of a tin of tuna. Nobu once turned me away because I was wearing shorts! Thankfully there are some saving graces. To find the best Japanese food you have to find the restaurants full of Japanese people and safe to say the West London sushi mecca that is Ealing Common is the place. Ealing Common has a Japanese school, a Japanese hairdresser, 2 excellent Japanese supermarkets, a Japanese bookstore and the first Nando's that was opened in the UK (spot the odd one out)... The jewel in the crown of this mini Miyajima is definitely Kiraku (sorry Atari Ya)...

First rule of Kiraku is you have to book, sitting at the sushi bar is a cool experience but be prepared to have your meal disturbed by shouts of "Irrashimaie" (welcome) as each new customer comes through the unassuming restaurant door. Second rule is don't come on a Monday because it is closed! Upon sitting down make sure you take advantage of one of the ranges of hot and cold sakes available, or if like the Admiral and I just start knocking back the delicious Japanese beers (£3.50), if you are not a boozer try the amusingly titled Calpis, it's Japanese cream soda and is lovely. You are often brought a small amuse bouche and a cold towel before having a look at the extensive menu.

Kiraku offers a tapas style experience avoiding the rigid starter, main course, dessert protocol. It also provides an opportunity to completely gorge yourself. We always kick things off with the Koebi Na Kaarage (deep fried shrimps) which are tiny morcels of shrimp goodness that are so addictive that they could easily be a heroin substitute. We also like the Tofu Steak which comes flecked with smoky bonito flakes and if available on the specials menu Tako Yaki (octopus balls, not octopus testicles but pieces of octopus in a light batter served with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise). I normally have a problem with picture menus but at Kiraku the food is beautifully presented that it deserves to be photographed.

Sushi is our next course as the Admiral (she loves the sea) and I decided to treat ourself to the truly decadent Dragon Roll, a California Roll (sorry old friend, all is forgiven) topped with half an eel brushed with teriyaki sauce. Special mention must also go to the Soft Shell Crab which my mum refuses to eat on the grounds that the perfectly panko-ed crab looks like a spider...bless her. Sashimi is also the Tako's Yaki's at Kiraku as their Sashi Mori Special contained arguably the best Toro i've had, even in Japan! Saying that the sushi is not cheap at Kiraku at £15.00 for a Dragon Roll, and £42.00 for the deluxe sashimi set however you can order items individually for smaller cost.

The rest of the menu is your standard Japanese fair that you could pull out of any Izakaya in Japan. Katsu curries come lavishy hot, sweet and crunchy over perfectly steamed rice, Tempura comes perfectly crisp and without a hint of grease, Yakitori and Kushiage come expertly grilled (however whenever I've ordered the chicken cartilage yakitori they never have it) and for those a tad less adventurous in plunging into a tasty plate of horse mackerel or the delicious deep fried oysters (Kaki Fry) you can get a wide range of noodles and rice dishes.

For me Kiraku reminds me of good times in Japan. For those who rarely eat Japanese food the staff are helpful and will guide you through the menu. The place is always rammed with ruddy faced Japanese businessmen and I can think of no higher endorsement. The food is expensive, the Admiral and I will always spend about £70 even with only one beer but then we are greedy and find ourselves carried away with the freshness of the fish and the authenticity of the food. Anyways it beats the wasabi out of Nando's across the road.

Food: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Why should I go?: Because they let you in wearing shorts....
http://www.kiraku.co.uk/